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Sex offence taunts sparked pub attack

A SEX offender smashed a glass across a man’s face following taunts about his criminal past.

Christopher William Hill, 24, left Timothy Cass scarred for life following the attack on May 13 this year.

Nick Adlington, prosecuting, told York Crown Court on Friday that Hill, of Park Street, Pickering, had been drinking in a local pub when he began a verbal fight with Mr Cass. He said Mr Cass had then stood up and approached Hill in a “threatening manner”.

Hill had then struck him in the face with a glass in a single blow, causing a large cut near his left eye.

The court heard how Mr Cass had been taunting Hill following a conviction Hill received in August last year for bombarding a 14-year-old girl with text messages begging her to send naked pictures of herself.

Hill had sent a ‘friend request’ to the teenager after his father Barry Hill – an ex-policeman and former steward of Pickering Conservative Club – pointed her out in a pub saying: “She looks to be girlfriend material”.

Christopher Hill knew the girl’s age after she accepted the request through Facebook but sent her more than 500 text messages in a week asking for naked images. She refused but sent pictures of herself in her underwear. Her mother found the pictures and called the police.

Hill was consequently placed on the sex offenders register and ordered to complete a sex offender’s treatment programme.

Mr Adlington told the court on Friday that Mr Cass had taunted Hill for about 45 minutes before the attack took place. Hill was arrested and charged with causing actual bodily harm which he admitted in court.

Defending Hill, Taryn Turner said her client had been subject to both verbal and physical attacks since details of his crimes were published.

She said: “Because of this sensitive conviction he has been subjected to violent taunts. This is a young man who has really been through the mill. He has been the target of abuse.”

He had been having a drink, she said, when Mr Cass approached him and Hill had acted out in a “split second” reaction.